Understanding planning · 13 min read
Planning application documents: what to read first
Understand planning application documents, officer reports and decision notices. Use a reading checklist, document table and worked example to inspect a case.
England · County council
Explore collected planning applications and decisions for Essex County Council. Search an address, application reference or proposal to find a record.
6,825 approved · 214 refused · 438 withdrawn. Received dates in our records: 12 Dec 1938 to 5 Oct 2026. Most recent record check: 14 Oct 2026. Counts reflect the last collected status; some records may be out of date.
Explore published planning boundaries and follow their source records for designation details. Coverage varies: an empty map does not mean there are no restrictions. Check the council’s current maps and documents before relying on a boundary.
A boundary map is not available for this authority yet. Use council conservation-area and Article 4 guidance above where linked.
Download Article 4 coverage for all authorities (CSV)
Sources: Planning Data conservation areas and Article 4 direction areas. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Manningtree Library, High Street, Manningtree, CO111AD
Received 7 Aug 2012St. Georges Infant School, Barrington Road, Colchester, CO2 7RW
Received 28 Feb 2017Land At Martells's Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Essex CO7 7RU
Received 5 Jul 2023Bulls Lodge Quarry (Boreham Airfield), Generals Lane, Boreham, Chelmsford, CM3 3HR
Received 17 Jul 2025Land off Chigwell Road to the rear of West Hatch Primary School,Chigwell Road,Chigwell,IG7 5BT
Received 16 Jan 2006The area of open space east of Forest Road and north of Yew Close, Witham
Received 11 Jan 2019Stapleford Abbotts Cp School, Stapleford Road, Stapleford Abbotts, Romford, RM4 1EJ
Received 27 Jan 2014Land at Colchester Quarry, Warren lane, Stanway Colchester C03 0NN
Received 29 May 2019Westwood Primary School,Beresford Close,Hadleigh,Benfleet,SS7 2SU
Received 14 Jun 2002Richard De Clare Primary School,Parsonage Street,Halstead,CO9 2JT
Received 22 Dec 2000Land adjacent to A120, A120 North, Ardleigh, Colchester, Essex, CO7 7SL
Received 31 Oct 2013St George's Infants School,Barrington Rd,Colchester,CO2 7RW
Received 8 Nov 2001Martells Quarry, Slough Lane, Ardleigh, Essex, CO7 7RU
Received 27 Aug 2025Plot 7, Phoenix Road, Haverhill Business Park, Haverhill, Haverhill Business Park, CB9 7AE
Received 15 Mar 2022Lee Chapel County Primary School,The Knares,Basildon,SS16 5RU
Received 11 Jun 2002Walton-on-the-Naze WwTW,Walton-on-the-Naze
Received 2 Dec 2002Cobbs Farm, Maldon Road, Goldhanger, Maldon, CM9 8BQ
Received 26 Sept 2017High Ongar Primary School,The Street,High Ongar,Ongar,CM5 9NB
Received 7 Dec 2004Blackleys Quarry, (Essex Show Ground),Great Leighs,Chelmsford,CM3 1QB
Received 12 Nov 2002Land at Sandon Quarry, Southend Road, Sandon, Howe Green, CM2 7TE
Received 3 Feb 2020Laindon Park C P S,Church Hill,Laindon,Basildon,SS155SE
Received 23 Nov 2006Great Bentley Primary School, Plough Road, Great Bentley Essex CO7 8LD
Received 13 Feb 2023Land North of Dry Street, Nethermayne, Basildon
Received 10 Jul 2024Elsenham Quarry, Hall Road, Elsenham, CM22 6DR
Received 18 Mar 2019Records are ordered by application ID, not submission date. Use search to find a particular address or proposal.
View all applicationsStart with the address or application reference. Open a record to read the proposal, dates and available documents, then check the official register for the latest plans and consultation details. If nothing appears, check coverage before treating the result as a complete planning history.
How to search planning applications
Understanding planning · 13 min read
Understand planning application documents, officer reports and decision notices. Use a reading checklist, document table and worked example to inspect a case.

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Read planning drawings, floor plans, elevations and sections. Use labelled diagrams, a drawing comparison table and revision checks to understand a proposal.

Property research · 13 min read
Understand planning approval rates with an interactive calculator, worked examples and comparison table. Check sample sizes, outcomes and coverage before comparing.
These figures describe applications collected by PlanningTrack for Essex County Council, across all dates currently available. They are a partial dataset, rather than an authority-wide performance measure. The date range does not establish continuous historical coverage.
The approval percentage is approved records divided by approved plus refused records. Pending, withdrawn and unknown outcomes are excluded. No percentage is shown until there is an approved or refused record.
Check collection coverage